Reflections in an empty house
by Netta Sloan
Summary: Pinako continues her daytoday, thoughts and musings her only company besides Den.  Manga as canon.
1. phone call

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have fun and tell those boys I said to take care of you."

"Yeah, right. They can barely take care of themselves much less me. I'll be fine."

"Call me later and tell me when you're on your way home."

"I will. Goodbye Granny."

"Bye."

Pinako stared at the receiver for a moment before hanging it up. She had a funny feeling that this wouldn't be just a visit to Rush Valley, but a new journey. The last of her small broken family was gone. Something wet dripped on the back of her hand and she felt a tiny thrill of horror as she looked at the two drops. She felt the drops zig-zag down the back of her wrist as she raised the trembling hand to her face. The two tear tracks filled her with disgust.

"Get it together, old woman." She sniffed harshly, stilling any remaining tears. It wasn't like Winry was dead, after all. A furry head forced itself under her arm. She looked down into the warm eyes of her last companion. "Well, it's just you and me now, girl. Guess we should go pack up her room for her. She'll want her notes at least, no matter what she tells me." Pinako mounted the stairs, one hand at her lower back, the first victim of advanced age.

Opening the door, she had to adjust her glasses to see through the bright rays of sunshine streaming in through the windows. The light faded as she stepped in, perhaps even the sky was mourning her grand daughter's departure. She shook her head at the sentimental bit of nonsense she had allowed to slip into her consciousness and looked around. She felt a tremble come back to her hands and willed the involuntary movement to stop. Perhaps she should do this a little later. Dinner still needed to be made. Pinako stepped back, hand on the knob to close the door. Den whined softly at her feet and trotted away down the stairs.

She sighed as she closed the door and followed the dog.


	2. stew

Pinako smiled softly as she turned the page in the album. There was little Winry, a pink apron around her waist and standing on a stool next to the stove. An oversized spoon was grasped tightly in her hand and she had a look of surprise on her face. Winry had in later years been embarrassed by the picture, but it remained one of Pinako's favorite. She thought back to when the photo was taken.

_"Winry, what are you doing girl?" Pinako watched as the little girl was caught in surprise at the flashbulb, the spoon still held up in the air. _

_"Nothing Granny." _

_"It don't look like nothing."_

_Little Winry looked down at her bare feet from her perch on the chair and Pinako silently let the silence build, letting the girl decide on her own to correct her lie._

_"I was stirring the stew."_

_"Why? Stew cooks all on its own. It don't need no stirring."_

_"I know Granny, but on the way home from school today Ed said that whoever made stew was a genius."_

_"That stupid boy."_

_"I know he's stupid, but I thought if I helped with dinner tonight, then he'd think I was a genius, too."_

_Granny sighed as tears welled up in the little girls eyes and stood up straighter, trying to find the words to make her feel better._

_"Come down here, Winry." A moment's fear filled her heart as the girl clumsily climbed down the chair, dropping the spoon on the floor in the process. As it clanged noisily on the tiles, Winry sniffed, the tears finally falling. Pinako opened her arms and embraced the girl. "I'm sure he already thinks you're a genius. I know that soldier in the surgery room does."_

_"He does?" Pinako wasn't sure who Winry meant, but nodded anyways. _

_"And I do, too."_

Pinako sniffed loudly as she turned to the next page, not wanting to remember the rest of the conversation and how she'd cried alone later that night, clutching an old picture of when she was happy; when she still had a husband and an infant son and a future of happy children ahead of her.


	3. beer

Pinako sighed as she sipped on her beer. It sure was quiet today. She carefully flipped the pages of the old scrapbook that had caught her eye while cleaning out the room Ed and Al used when they came to stay. Those boys drove her crazy with their never ending pile of books and boxes hadn't been unpacked since they moved them into her house. She supposed that once they set out to do what they were journeying so hard to do, that they'd come back and go through the old memories, but until then the tape stayed right and tidy across the cardboard flaps.

A photo of Hohenheim with a worried look on his face caught her eye as she thought about the boys. She thought back hard, dusted the cobwebs off of her memories, until she remembered that moment. Of course, how could she have forgotten? Well, in all fairness she hadn't been the one to snap this photo, being busy in the birthing room next door with Trisha.

_Trisha was such a small woman, but her pregnancy was huge. The Rockbell women were both there, anxious to see this first little bundle of joy. Her daughter-in-law, always good with patients, was calmly wiping the distressed woman's face and feeding her ice chips. Pinako was with the doctor, watching carefully for the baby and encouraging the young woman to push. At the first sign of golden hair smiles and delighted laughter burst out in the room; almost there. It felt like hours before the baby finally came, Pinako taking him gently from the doctor and washing him. "Hey, there, boy. I'm gonna be your Granny since there's no one else around for the job." _

Pinako sighed and turned to the next page, Trisha proudly feeding a new-born Ed. He'd come out smaller than was first thought, but louder than any other baby she'd ever heard. The next photo was of Hohenheim with her son's hand on his shoulder; a man's man, comforting the new father. A photo of her son's wife followed; a tray of iced lemonade in her hands. She smiled as she looked at the photo, little Winry growing in it, but nobody knew yet.

She snapped the book shut, happy but sad at the memories. All of her children, dead and gone, leaving her alone. It wasn't right. She couldn't keep from glancing up at the pictures on the bulletin board. Winry had arranged that a while back, saying that having everyone in frames felt too stuffy. She squinted up at a picture of her granddaughter, and then her old eyes darted over to a photo of Ed, snapped after a wrench told him who was boss. Pinako knew life wasn't fair, but she hoped she'd live long enough anyways to see the next set of babies born.


	4. sacred

Pinako didn't pause as she passed the old burned shell of the Elric home; didn't even slow her step. It wasn't in her nature to brood about the past or give reverence to old useless things. It would lead most people to think the word sacred had never ventured into her vocabulary, but those folks would be wrong. She held a few items in important respect and understood the importance of things to look back on.

One would suppose that was why a few days after Winry left she hired the Henderson boys to paint the house its usual yellow, even though that was two months earlier than usual. Or maybe why in her weekly parts order she continued to stock the machine oil her favored customer was known to use. Or perhaps that's why she religiously put out twin bowls of milk and table scraps for the hungry neighborhood kittens.

She smiled in her musings, remembering how a young Al was constantly scolded for feeding strays at his home. One day she found him curled up with Den in her basket, snot running from his nose and eyes swollen almost shut with tears.

_"Al, what happened?"_

_His chin had quivered as he looked up at her before he scrambled up, burying his sad little face in her apron. "Mommy, mommy said that I couldn't feed the kitties anymore. She –She says that they make a mess and scratch Ed. I don't want for the kitties to be…to…be…" He sniffled hard before finishing his sentence, "to be hungry!" He had burst into a fresh round of tears and she rolled her eyes as she patted his head. She waited until the sobbing had died down to hiccups before she spoke._

_"How about if you feed the kitties here?"_

_Glassy eyes full of hope, tears still dripping off the long eyelashes, looked up at her. "Really Granny?"_

_"Really Al."_

_"But, how will they know to come over here?"_

_"Mmm…I'll tell you what. You go git Winry and tell her to help you round the kitties up. I'll put out food. That way they'll know and be fed."_

_"Okay!" He had jumped away, running for the stairs. "Winry!" "Oh, but Granny, what about Ed?"_

_"You tell him I said to help."_

_"Yay!" She shook her head as his little boots thundered up the stairs._

"Hey, Dr. Rockbell!" A voice calling out snapped her from her reverie. Nodding her chin back in reply she pressed her lips hard together. _Enough reminiscing, old lady. _Tobacco and beer were waiting to be sampled and bought. After all, there were some things she considered sacred.


	5. dancing

Pinako took a deep breath and stretched out a shaking hand to the doorknob. Chastising herself, she rolled her eyes and went in firmly. The room was a little musty from being closed up, so the first thing she did was open the window. Turning around in the sunlight, she surveyed the mess she had to clean up. Winry had left her room in a hurry, discarded laundry and tools sharing space on her bed. Evidence of a hurried packing job was further proven by the open chest of drawers and light left on in the closet. Shaking her head, the old lady got to work.

Clothes were re-hung on hangars; drawers were sorted and pushed back into their rightful position. The tools were carefully divided into what could be put away in the box in the room and what needed to be oiled. The dirty laundry was swept into a big pile with the bedding, to be washed and hung out later. A feather duster cleared away what little dust had piled up in the last few weeks and a broom took care of any loose bolts. A thud from under the bed made her put down the broom, bending down on creaky knees, to see what shouldn't be there.

Crawling almost completely under the bed, Pinako managed to get a good grip on the box and carefully pull it out. Her cleaning for the moment forgotten, curiosity overtook her and she gently pried off the lid. Memories swirled in her mind and tears sprung into her eyes as she looked at the things her grand daughter had saved. Delicately wrinkled old fingers alighted on the various treasures; her deceased husband's spectacles, an old handkerchief of her son's, a hair clip belonging to her daughter-in-law, an old pipe she'd sworn she'd thrown away, a pair of blue knitted socks with a big A on the bottom, a dried daisy, a broken pencil, some things she couldn't figure out, some things so obvious it caused her heart to clench.

Her pinky slid under a bit of plastic and she scooped the lost treasure up by its purple strap. She closed her eyes as she remembered the shoes.

_She watched from the top of the stairwell as her son twirled his wife around the kitchen. They were making breakfast, perfectly in sync, as they whistled a tune. The screen door slammed; Winry and Den in from gathering eggs. From her perch she heard the girl giggle as her parents spun and dipped. "Dance with me, Daddy! With me!" More giggling as little Winry stood on her father's slippers, dancing together. It brought back memories of her son as a child, how she did the same thing, her husband in her daughter-in-law's place. _

She wiped away a tear as the scene shifted.

_She didn't believe in déjà vu until she saw Winry making breakfast with Ed in the kitchen. He was still unsteady on his new automail leg and they were too young for it to be anything but friendly, but she still thought of what might be. She heard Winry giggle as Ed spun her, then a big crash as they both fell to the floor. Curses and insults were thrown back and forth in between the laughter and groans. "What are they doing, Granny?" She heard Al ask from behind her somewhere. "Just making breakfast, Al. Why don't you go help?"_

Winry had claimed she'd lost these shoes after her parents left. They'd had to buy new, cheaper ones, because of the war and she'd always thought it was a shame that the nice ones were lost. Shaking her head, she gently put the shoes back into the box of treasures and used the broom handle to push it back where it belonged. Perhaps little Winry just couldn't bare the idea of dancing in the same shoes without her father. It wasn't important, but it was terribly important. The memory of Ed twirling Winry fleeted through her mind again and she smiled as she picked up the dustbin, turned out the lights, and left the room.


	6. visitors

She watched as the boy in front of her took a huge bite out of a roll; chewing it with his mouth open and already reaching for a piece of chicken. Sighing, she sat down the lemonade she'd brought for him and then took a seat at the table. The boy was growling ever so slightly as he dug into his dinner, his sharp golden eyes still narrowed with anger. Not that she could blame him. Being abandoned all of those years ago had been hard enough without this man showing up now in the boy's life. She poured more lemonade into the glass when he slammed it back down onto the table. Bits of backwash floated to the surface. She contemplated telling him to slow down, but no doubt he'd just argue through his chewing at her and possibly swallow faster.

Movement at the doorway over Ed's shoulder caught her eye. Hohenheim lingered at the edge. His eyes met hers with something like pleading, but she gave a slight stern shake of her head and his head went down. She'd be damned if they destroyed her house with their alchemy and family war. She stared at the figure until his long ponytail disappeared around from the door frame before turning her attention back to the boy. His maniacal eating had slowed down some and the anger was lessened in his eyes. She smiled a little bit before setting her lips back into their usual no nonsense expression.

"Now Ed, why don't you go on to the shower then to get some rest. I'll see to your arm when you've had a chance to sleep."

The boy's eyes were startling young and heartbroken for a moment when they met hers, then their usual determination took over.

"Okay Granny. Thanks for the food." Ed hesitated and Pinako waited him out. "He...He's"

Relenting a little at his fidgeting and irritation, she broke in.

"I don't even know if he's staying, but since he's here you ought to try to learn something."

She smirked as his fists tightened and a look of disgust broke out across his face.

"Don't worry, I won't let him bother you, Ed. Get some rest."

She sighed as he relaxed again, nodding, and headed out of the room. The boy's shoulders were slumped and she wished Winry were here to make him stand up straight. If anyone could light a fire, her granddaughter could. She waited until she heard the door to the bathroom shut and the water for the shower start up before she started clearing away Ed's dishes.

"Alright, Hohenheim. Come tell me why you're here." She called.


End file.
